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Meet on the Fox Studios backlot on March 12th for an in-depth analysis and discussion of the screenplayREADY PLAYER ONE.

Logline: In an overpopulated dystopian future, Wade Watts escapes into the 1980s-pop-culture-influenced virtual reality world of OASIS where he searches for hidden “Easter eggs” that may win him inheritance of the game creator’s vast fortune.

The Writers: Sci-fi novelist and screenwriter ERNEST CLINE started out as a competitive slam poet, winning the Austin Poetry Slam in 1998 and 2001. After writing a fan-fiction screenplay based on Buckaroo Banzai, his first produced screenwriting credit came in 2009 from Fanboys, a spec script he wrote in 1998 about a group of Star Wars fans on a cross-country road trip hoping to get their dying friend an advance screening of the first Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace. Cline’s first novel, Ready Player One, described as the “Holy Grail of Pop Culture,” sold to Random House’s Crown Publishing in a bidding war in 2010 and was published in 2011. Cline wrote the first draft of the screenplay, with uncredited rewrites provided by ERIC EASON (A Better Life) and final, credited rewrites by ZAK PENN (Last Action Hero, The Avengers).

Producers and Production Companies: The film rights sold at auction to Warner Bros. and De Line Pictures the same day the author’s publishing deal with Random House was finalized. Donald De Line, former head of production at Paramount Pictures, whose production credits include last year’s remake of Going in Style and 2011’s Green Lantern, produced Ready Player One under his banner, which he established in 1998, along with former Scott Rudin intern Dan Farah (the upcoming The Crow reboot) for Farah Films, Amblin Entertainment partner Kristie Macosko Krieger (Bridge of Spies, The Post), and director Steven Spielberg for his companies, Amblin and DreamWorks. Random House also shares a film production imprint credit, as do Brent Ratner’s RatPac-Dune Entertainment and Village Roadshow Pictures.

Release Date: Opens worldwide on March 29th (Warner Bros.).

Rated PG-13. 121 pages. Sci-Fi, Action-Adventure.

WENDELL WELLMAN will provide in-depth analysis and lead our discussion. Trained at the Actors Studio and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, Wendell has acted in feature films, television, and on stage. He has taught screenwriting at UCLA and wrote FIREFOX, SUDDEN IMPACT, and the final Dirty Harry script for Clint Eastwood. He recently completed adapting the novel The River Journey by Robert Nathan and is currently working on setting up his screenplay Top Hat. Wendell’s book, A Writer’s Roadmap, is available at Amazon.

Meet on the Fox Studios backlot on April 10th for an in-depth analysis and discussion of the screenplayTHE CIRCLE.

Logline: A woman lands her dream job at the most powerful tech company in the world only to find herself facing questions of privacy, identity, and freedom that will determine the future of humanity.

Writers:The Circle is based on the novel by DAVE EGGERS, who wrote the first draft of the screenplay. He also wrote screenplays for Away We Go with his wife, novelist Vendela Vida, and Where the Wild Things Are with director Spike Jonze, and has a story credit on Gus Van Sant’s Promised Land. The Circle is Eggers’ tenth novel. His 2009 book, Zeitoun, has been optioned by Jonathan Demme, and his novel A Hologram for the King was made into a movie in 2016 by Tom Tykwer starring Tom Hanks. JAMES PONSOLDT rewrote the script for The Circle and is the film’s director. Ponsoldt’s other writer-director credits include Off the Black starring Nick Nolte and Smashed starring Aaron Paul. He also directed The End of the Tour starring Jason Segal and Jesse Eisenberg and the acclaimed The Spectacular Now starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley.

The Black Mirror-esque sci-fi thriller stars Emma Watson (Harry Potter film series) and Tom Hanks in his first-ever villain role, with John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Karen Gillan (Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy), Ellar Coltrane (Boyhood), Patton Oswalt (Young Adult), and the late Bill Paxton in his final film appearance.

Producers and Production Companies: Hanks optioned the novel in 2014 to star in and produce through his Playtone banner with producing partner Gary Goetzman (Sully, Game Change). Anthony Bregman (Collateral Beauty, Sing Street, Foxcatcher) joined the producers with his company, Likely Story. Sophia Dilley (Netflix’s Tallulah) co-produces through Route One Entertainment. Writer-director Ponsoldt also has a producing credit. The film’s financing came from Image Nation (Rings, Contagion).

Release Date: April 28 (STX Entertainment), after its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Rated PG-13. 110 minutes. 141 pages. Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller.

LINDA COWGILL will provide in-depth analysis and lead our discussion. After completing her MFA at UCLA’s School of Film and Television, Linda landed her first TV writing job on The Incredible Hulk and sold her first feature screenplay to Orion Pictures. She continued writing scripts for Paramount, Universal, MGM, Warner Bros., and for the acclaimed series Life Goes On, until deciding to focus on teaching screenwriting. She has since taught seminars and workshops at AFI, Kennedy Center, Boston Film Institute, Loyola Marymount, IFP Miami, and NALIP and now heads the Screenwriting Department at Los Angeles Film School. She has also published three books, The Art of Plotting, Secrets of Screenplay Structure, and Writing Short Films, and has many useful screenwriting articles on her website, Plots Inc.

Meet on the Fox Studios backlot for an in-depth analysis and discussion of the screenplayNOCTURNAL ANIMALS.

Logline: An art gallery owner is haunted by her ex-husband’s novel, a violent thriller she interprets as a veiled threat and a symbolic revenge tale.

Writers: Director and producer TOM FORD penned the script, based on the 1993 novel Tony and Susan by AUSTIN WRIGHT. Ford gained worldwide acclaim as a fashion designer before making his motion picture directorial debut in 2009 with A Single Man, which he also co-wrote. That film earned its star, Colin Firth, his first Oscar nomination. Novelist and literary critic Austin Wright died in 2003 at the age of 80. The only novel of his to be adapted for the screen to date, Tony and Susan was not successful in Wright’s lifetime. Released posthumously in the UK for the first time in 2010, the book finally found its audience and was re-released in the US to critical acclaim.

Producers and Production Companies: As with A Single Man, Ford produced Nocturnal Animals through his production company, Fade to Black Films, again with Robert Salerno, whose other credits include 21 Grams and next year’s Going Places, a spin-off of The Big Lebowski.

Premiere: Venice Film Festival, September 2 (Grand Jury Prize winner). Also played at Toronto International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival.

JEFF KITCHEN will provide in-depth analysis and lead our discussion. Jeff is a sought-after script doctor and working writer who has taught screenwriting professionally since 1989. He is the author of Writing a Great Movie: Key Tools for Successful Screenwriting, and has trained development executives from all the major studios who have consistently said that he teaches “the most advanced development tools in the film industry.” Creative Screenwriting listed him as one of the top five screenwriting teachers working today. Visit his website DevelopmentHeaven.com.

Meet on the Fox Studios backlot for an in-depth analysis and discussion of the screenplayTHE GIRL ON THE TRAIN.

Logline: Obsessively fantasizing about the perfect couple that lives down the street from her ex-husband, a self-destructive woman finds herself entangled in a mystery that will forever alter the lives of all involved.

Writers: Based on a bestselling novel, The Girl on the Train was adapted by ERIN CRESSIDA WILSON, whose first produced screenplay, Secretary, won the 2002 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. Her other credits include Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, Chloe (directed by Atom Egoyan), and Men, Women & Children (directed and co-written by Jason Reitman). The novel, written by PAULA HAWKINS, debuted in 2015 at #1 on The New York Times bestseller list, remaining at the top for 16 weeks. Hawkins had previously released a string of less successful romantic comedy novels under the pen name Amy Silver before challenging herself to write darker material with The Girl on the Train, which has often been called “the next Gone Girl.”

Producers and Production Companies: DreamWorks Pictures acquired film rights to the novel in 2014. The film was produced by Marc Platt, former president of production for Orion, TriStar, and Universal, under his Marc Platt Productions banner. The former entertainment attorney’s other producing credits include the Legally Blonde franchise, Wanted, Drive, Bridge of Spies, and the Broadway musical Wicked.

Release Date: October 7 (Universal Pictures).

Rated R. 105 minutes. 100 pages. Drama, Crime, Thriller, Mystery.

LEE JESSUP will provide in-depth analysis and lead our discussion. Born and raised in Israel, Jessup is a career coach for screenwriters whose clients include Golden Globe and Emmy nominated writers as well as emerging screenwriters just starting on their professional writing path. She previously ran development for a small production company and was product manager for Baseline’s ScriptShark coverage service. Her book Getting It Write: An Insider’s Guide To A Screenwriting Career is a comprehensive guide with practical advice for aspiring and working screenwriters. Find out more at leejessup.com and follow Lee on Twitter (@LeeZJessup).

Meet on the 20th Century Fox studio lot for an in-depth analysis and discussion of the screenplayME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL.

First-time screenwriter JESSE ANDREWS adapted his debut YA novel, the resulting screenplay landing on the 2012 Black List. Premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the movie won both the Audience award (drama) and Grand Jury Prize (drama), drawing a five-minute standing ovation!

Fox Searchlight won worldwide rights over bids from Focus, CBS Films, Lionsgate, A24, Miramax, and The Weinstein Co. The film, which stands on its own in inventiveness, humor, and heart, is “destined not only to connect with young audiences in a big way, but also to endure as a touchstone for its generation,” according to Variety, while Indiwire calls it “a beautifully charming, captivating knock-out.”

DIANA LESMEZ will provide in-depth analysis and lead our discussion. Currently an independent writer, producer, and director for her company, The StoryMaker Entertainment, Diana’s screenwriting has placed her as a finalist in the Walt Disney Fellowship Program, Broad Humor Film Festival, and Slamdance Screenwriting Competition. Her vast background in the entertainment industry includes developing film projects for Atlantic Streamline (Igby Goes Down) and Patriot Pictures (Air Force One) and she has taught at the New York Film Academy and the Los Angeles Film School. Diana also offers pitching, producing, distribution, and marketing consulting services through her Bumptious Media Consulting banner.

Meet on the 20th Century Fox studio lot for an in-depth analysis and discussion of the screenplayCHILD 44.

The thrilling hunt for a serial child killer in the Stalin-era Soviet Union, adapted from the award-winning 2008 novel by Tom Rob Smith — the first in a trilogy following disgraced military police investigator Leo Demidov — and inspired by the gruesome, real-life crimes of the Red Ripper.

Screenwriter: Richard Price, Academy Award nominee for The Color of Money, WGA Award winner for The Wire. His other credits include Shaft, Ransom, Clockers (adapted from his novel), Mad Dog and Glory, and Sea of Love.

WENDELL WELLMAN will provide in-depth analysis and lead our discussion. Trained at the Actors Studio and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, Wendell has acted in feature films, television, and on stage. He has taught screenwriting at UCLA and wrote FIREFOX, SUDDEN IMPACT, and the final Dirty Harry script for Clint Eastwood. He is currently adapting the novel The River Journey by Robert Nathan. Wendell’s book, A Writer’s Roadmap, is available at Amazon.